"Ah! Flammable oil!"

It was the same oil that Martha showed me before, the expensive oil imported from the east, which helped me prove that I didn't burn the huge curtain during Meira's engagement ceremony.

I hurried to get that bottle, as it was my savior from hunger.

"It's time for you to help me and my hungry tiny stomach. You owe me for putting that blame on me when it was you who burned that curtain."

Aish, I was so lonely that even talking to this lifeless bottle was comforting. Whenever I was left alone for long in the absence of Martha, I always chose to talk to lifeless things to pass my time and make myself feel I was not alone. I didn't even spare the walls of this old tower.

Opening the bottle's cap, I leaned down to add some of the flammable oil onto the wood inside the mud stove, but just then, my ears caught a familiar sound that I never liked.

Squeak!

Squeak!

Feeling anxious, I turned towards the source of that distinctive sound, only to see a long thin rodent with big eyes and ears and a pointed nose eating the few rice grains I dropped on the floor.

"Rat!" I exclaimed in fear and immediately covered my mouth to not scream as I inhaled deeply.

Not caring for anything, I ran away blindly, only to bump into the rack that held pots filled with various cooking essentials and ended up dropping them all over the floor. Those heavy metal pots made loud noises that could be heard even from far away, and I had to cover my ears.

"What should I do?" Anxious to get away, I spotted the wooden table next to the wall nearby and climbed onto it without a second thought.

"Am I safe now?" Just as I gave out a sigh of relief, another trouble awaited me. I was empty-handed.

While running away, I dropped the flammable oil bottle on the floor… a bit too close to the mud stove. The oil from the bottle had spread on the floor near the stove. The moment I realized what happened, the oil had caught fire, and tall, frightening flames had engulfed the entire mud stove and the floor around it; just as its name said—highly flammable.

"My food!" I felt like crying as I could think about nothing but the rice I'm cooking. Indeed, I pity my stomach more than that mud stove and this entire tower.

"I can't cry." I reminded myself of one of the most important instructions out of so many that Martha had given to me. Whatever happened, I should not cry. After taking deep breaths, I calmed myself, climbed down from the wooden table, and hurried to fetch water.

I picked up a small mud container to get water from a bigger-sized water pot. Just as I started to pour the water over the fire, it ended up filling the kitchen with thick black smoke, almost suffocating me.

Cough! Cough!

Afraid that the black smoke would reach the other rooms of the tower, I had to open the kitchen's windows to let the smoke out.

It took a while until the fire died down, but thick smoke was still coming out from the mud stove. Even with my veil on, I was having trouble breathing. Covering my nose and mouth with the long sleeves of my dress as additional cover, I went towards the mud stove.

"My food!" This time, I felt like crying my throat out, but as usual, I suppressed it. Only a sad voice came out of my throat. "My food is burnt."

The rice in the pot was blacker than black, and hardly anything looked edible. "I can at least eat whatever is left?" I consoled myself and picked up that pot with the help of one thick cloth that I picked up from a kitchen cloth hanger.

Just as I picked up the pot, the smell of burnt rice hit my nostrils. "It's so...well, not bad...I can eat it."

Consoling myself, just as I stepped away carrying that heavy metal pot, I heard the rat's squeak again.

"I must be imagining..." I prayed inside as I searched where the sound came from, only to be shocked that the rodent was below me, just one step away from my feet.

The next thing I could only hear was the sound of a metal pot colliding with the floor and rolling toward the wall. Whatever food was left inside it spread on the floor along its trail. The last hope of my stomach was on the floor, and I couldn't eat it.

I wanted to run away, but that rodent was looking at me, and I couldn't move. Though I was scared, I couldn't give up in front of this tiny creature.

"S-Stay away from me. I am a witch. I-I can burn you. Don't anger me!"

Surprisingly, it worked, and the rat moved away. "Even the rat is scared of me."

I felt relieved and proud, but it lasted only for a moment. I saw that rat eating the food on the floor, the food that was supposed to be in my stomach.

"Even the rat has a better destiny than me."

Looking around at the mess I made, even the fruits couldn't escape safely from the fire. There was nothing left for me to eat.

Thus, I stepped out of the kitchen, much hungrier than when I came in.